Sports
Football

Gaels shine under lights

Queen's Golden Gaels receiver Alex Zulys (88) gains yardage after catching a pass from quarterback Nate Hobbs during the first quarter of an Ontario University Athletics football game Thursday night at Richardson Stadium, the first Gaels night game at the stadium. (Ian MacAlpine/The Whig-Standard/Postmedia Network)

The Queen's Golden Gaels turned out the lights early on the Waterloo Warriors Thursday night.

In the first night Ontario University Athletics football game to be played at the revitalized Richardson, the Gaels scored 18 first-quarter points and never looked back in a 68-17 rout over the Waterloo Warriors before a crowd of 3,109.

Jake Puskas, who wasn’t in the starting backfield when the Gaels lost their first four games, continued his impressive running.

Puskas ran for a career-best 175 yards, added another 58 yards in catches, and scored half of the Gaels' eight touchdowns.

“We may have lost some faith from some Kingston people and maybe in [U Sports], but we sure didn’t lose faith in ourselves. And I think that showed tonight,” Puskas said. “I’m excited of course, but it was not just me. I’ve got to hand it to the offensive line as well as [quarterback Nate Hobbs] and all the receivers. It really was a team effort.”

The Gaels led 28-3 at the half and did not let off the throttle in the second half.

“Great running game. Nate was on and I thought the offensive line was good,” Gaels head coach Pat Sheahan said. “It was just a good outing. The results were there.”

Puskas scored all four of his touchdowns in the second half – two on runs and another two on passes from Hobbs.

However, it was the way he established the Gaels running game on the first possession of the game – the Gaels went 104 yards on 10 plays with Puskas rushing for 59 yards – that set the tone of the game.

“He’s a downhill runner. He runs hard. He was productive tonight,” Sheahan said. “He deserved those two [short-yard touchdowns] because he got a lot of tough yards. When we needed to move the sticks and control the game, I thought he did well.”

Puskas is in the starting backfield due to an injury to Jonah Pataki. Puskas, who has now rushed for 421 yards in his three starts, said the team’s turnaround has come from the offensive line’s improved play.

The Warriors didn’t get a sack on Hobbs, who was harassed for 26 sacks in the team’s first three games. He has only been sacked twice in the past three games.

“The offensive line is really starting to click perfectly and we’re all happy about it,” Puskas said.

The Gaels are now 2-4 with games remaining against the York Lions and Toronto Blues, teams that have a combined record of 2-10 after losses Thursday night.

“This is exactly where we wanted to be [at 2-4 after losing four straight]. Things are working out. We’re very happy about it," Puskas said.

Hobbs ended up with another huge passing day. He was 23-for-30 in completions for 379 yards. Hobbs threw for four touchdowns: two to Puskas and one each to Alex Zulys and Chris Osei-Kusi.

Fullback Marquis Richards scored from two yards out and the Gaels defence scored a touchdown on a 40-yard fumble recovery and score by Wes Mann.